A little over one month remains until NBL Next Star Karim Lopez looks to fulfil his dream at the 2026 NBA Draft.

Following the recent lottery, the 2026 Draft Combine took place this week in Chicago and the former New Zealand Breaker turned plenty of heads with his performances.

ESPN’s Marc J Spears believes the Mexican-born Lopez has ‘shades’ of one of the sport’s all-time greats in his game.

“This is an intriguing 6’9 player who played in Australia last year,” Spears told the 95.7 The Game Radio Show.

“He played against grown men, so he's ready to play now, despite the fact that he's only 19 years old.

“He shot 50 per cent from the field. He needs to improve his three-point shot, which was about 32 per cent, but he's athletic.

“I'm not going to call him Scottie Pippen, but he’s got Scottie Pippen kind of things to him.”

Spears went on to say he believes it would be hard for the Golden State Warriors to pass on Lopez at pick 11 in the Draft.

“What I’m told as of today, the expectation today is that the Warriors will make the pitch to [Lopez], who intrigues me a lot,” he said.

“I don't know if he'll be sitting there, but it would be really hard to turn him down.

“Lopez could be the first Mexican player taken in the first round. I covered Eduardo Nájera, so I know the kind of impact having a Mexican player can have on your team just nationally.

“Obviously, we saw what [Juan] Toscano-Anderson did.

“Having the first Mexican-born player in the first round wearing 'Lopez' would be a hot jersey in the Bay.

“He [Lopez] talked about the Warriors a little bit with me and Draymond [Green] and the excitement of playing with Steph and Draymond.

“I think he [Lopez] could be a great addition for the future if he’s sitting there.”

While Spears compared the former Breaker to Pippen, Lopez himself said he’s most like ‘Jalen Johnson’ during a media interview at the Combine.

Both of those two comparisons are versatile two-way forwards, which is why NBA Draft expert Jonathan Givony said Lopez has “ample height/length to play either forward spot in the NBA”.

Lopez, who helped the Breakers win the first-ever Ignite Cup Final during the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 Season, averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game this campaign, while shooting 49 per cent from the field.

The Next Stars program has seen six players drafted in the first round across the last six NBA drafts, including LaMelo Ball (2020), Josh Giddey (2021), Ousmane Dieng (2022) and Alex Sarr (2024), all being selected inside the lottery.